Jesse Williams
Pulls Emmett Till Nike-Kaep Memes …
After Internet Backlash
9/24/2018 3:27 PM PDT
Jesse Williams drew some major criticism after promoting his new Emmett Till film with memes that incorporated Nike’s new campaign with Colin Kaepernick … and it was so harsh, he pulled the pics.
News broke Monday that Jesse was tapped to direct a new film about Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till. The film follows Mamie’s fight for justice after her 14-year-old son was murdered in the South for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Jesse promoted the project by posting the pics below …
The bunch of photos featured both Emmett, Mamie and others involved in the outcry following his death with Nike’s new Kaep-led tagline, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” He also teased his new flick with “TiLL Coming Soon.”
A lot of people were not amused by Jesse trying to conflate the two subjects, and he was quickly hit with a wave of backlash. Jesse then removed all but one meme he’d posted … the one of Emmett’s uncle pointing out the white men who killed him in court.
Jesse has been hailed as a modern day civil rights hero and was even given the Humanitarian Award by BET two years ago … where he delivered a powerful speech about police brutality in America.
Clearly, the message Jesse was trying to bring across was lost in the Instagram shuffle.